Ball-trap for billiard-tables



(No Model.)

F. SAUNDERS. BALL TRAP FOR BILLIARD TVABLES.

Patented Jan. 24,1882.

INVE NTDR W IT N E 5 5 E E N. PETERS. PhoXo-Lnhosrapher. WnshinKYum D. C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK SAUNDERS, OF ABERDEEN, MISSISSIPPI.

BALL-TRAP FOR BlLLlARD-TABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 252,805, dated January 24, 18L2.

Application filed October 12, 1381.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK SAUNDERS, of Aberdeen, in the county of Monroe and State of Mississippi, have invented a certain new and Improved Ball-Trap for Billiard-Tables, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is designed for use upon carrom or billiard tables; and the object of the invention is to provide a substitute for pockets, which will enable pool and other pocket games to be played on a table without pockets.

My invention consists essentially in a balltrap adapted to be secured upon the top of the rail of a billiard-table, at the corner, and to descend upon or cover and catch or entrap the balls when they come within its range. The trap is preferably composed of a wire rim and an inelosed elastic web of netting or other material.

The invention further consists in details of construction whereby the ball is made to spring the trap so as to be caught or entrapped, and whereby the danger of the ball rebounding and escaping be 0nd the range of the trap before the latter descends upon it is obviated.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan of my improved trap, representing it secured upon the corner of a billiard-table rail and set, and also representing a ball in the act of springingthe trap. Fig. 2 represents a section of the trap on the dotted line as m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a front view of the trap; and Fig. 4. represents a side view of a trap of modified form as set, and also a ball in the act of springing the trap.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A designates the cushion and rail of a carrom or billiard table.

B designates a base-plate, which may be made of sheet-brass or other suitable material; and B designates a flange or head piece,

which projects downward from the base-plate,

and may be made of leather or any other suitable material. The flange B is constructed with its two sides at an angle of about ninety degrees with each other, and the back side of this flange is adapted to fit against the inner sides of the cushion adjacent to the corner. At the back or rear end the base-plate B has (No model.)

tdownwardly-projecting fingers or prongs a, which are somewhat elastic,and when the trap is to be applied to a table these fingers or prongs will slip over the outer edge of the rail and hold the base-plate in place by their resilience. In lieu of making the prongs elastic, they may be rigid and the base-plate held in place bythe resistance of the billiard-cushion.

G designates the trap proper. which maybe composed of a Wire rim, 1), filled in with a web of netting, and the ends of this wire enter the flange B and form pivots upon whichthe trap may swing, so that it may be turned ba k or set, as seen in full outline, and so that it may be swung down, as shown in dotted outline. I The wire 1), near the ends, is bent or coiled at 0,

so as to form eyes, to which are attached rubber bands (I, (see Fig. 3,) which are carried down under the edge of the flange B, and are attached to pins d, which project from the back ,sideofthe flange B in'the corner of the tible. The flange B does not extend clear back into the angle of the cushion, but along each side adjacent to the corner for a little distance, and then across the corner, and hence the pins d do not project into the cushion.

In lieu of the rubber bands d, any other desirable form of spring might be used to turn the trap down upon a ball when it is sprung.

Upon the top of thebase-plate Bis a sliding tongue, D, which fits between and under lugs e 01 the base-plate, which form a slideway therefor. The tongue D projects beyond the flange B, and has a head, D, of wood, leather, or other material, against which the balls E may strike, as shown.

Upon the top of the tongue I) is a catch,f, under which the edge of the trap 0 projects when the tongue is in its forward position, as clearly seen, and the tongue is held in such forward position by a rubber band, 9, which is secured upon a hook, g, upon the tongue, and a similar hook, g upon the base-plate, and projecting through a slot in the tongue. In lieu of the rubber band g, any other form of spring may be used.

When the trap is set the trap proper, (l, is held back by the catch fand the tongue is held in a forwardiposition by the rubberspring g. When a ball, E, strikes the head D of the tongue it moves it back, releasing the catchf from the trap C and allowing the latter to swing down over the ball and retain it, as seen in (lot-ted outline in Fig. 2. is released by the inward movement of the tongue D the latter is moved outward by its spring g, and this sudden outward movement might cause the ball to rebound and escape before the trap could comedown upon it. Toprevent this I provide a catch for holding the tongue against outwa-ld movement after the trap is released.

Between the base-plate Aand the tongue D is a spring, h, on the free end of which is a lug or projection, t, which entels a slot, j, in the tongue D, and adjacent to the lugt' is a shoulder, (Shown clearly in Fig. 2.) When the tongue D is forced inward by the impact of a ball against the head D the spring h rises and the tongue D is prevented from moving forward by the shoulder k rising into engagement with the end of the slotj. When the trap O is turned back in setting it the wire rim 1) bears upon the lug i and iorces down the same and the spring h. so as to disengage the shoulder la from the end of the slotj, whereupon the tongue 1) moves forward and the catch f engages with the rim of the trap and holds it down.

In Fig. 4 I have shown another form of a trap which is somewhat simpler than that previously described. 0 designates the tra p,which may consist of a cup-shaped rim covered with netting, and is hinged at l to a bracket, F, which extends over the top of the rail A. To the outer edge of the trap is secured a pawl or arm, m, which engages with a shoulder, a, or with any one of a series of teeth, 0, in the bracket F, to hold the trap up, as shown in the drawings. 'When a ball, E, strikes against the lower edge of the trap it tilt-s it forward sufiiciently to free the arm on from its catch. whereupon the trap falls forward upon the ball and retains it.

By my invention I enable any one having a carrom or billiard table to use the same for playing pool or any pocket game, and when it is desired to play billiards the traps can of course be readily removed from the table.

It is preferred to have the web or netting of the trap made of some elastic or yielding ma terial-such as perforated sheet-rubber-or, if made of thread, to have an elastic or yielding center, which may be formed by a rubber ring, 8. (See Fig.1.) This may be eflected by gathering the netting at its center upon the rubber ring, so that said netting, by being stretched taut by the normal contraction of the rubber ring, may lie flat upon the base-plate while the trap remains set, thereby being less in the After the trap O.

way of the player, and by yielding when it strikes a ball, after the trap is sprung, make room under the same for the captured ball. Furthermore, by a yielding resistance of the elastic netting against the top of the captured ball when the trap catches it, the wire rim C is in a measure restrained in its downward force. Otherwise it might strike the cloth of the table to the possible injury of the same.

By a different conformation of the base-plate the invention is equally applicable as a substitute for side pockets.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A ball-trap adapted to be secured upon the top of the rail of a billiard-table and to descend upon or cover and catch or entrap the balls when they come within its range, substantially as specified.

2. A swinging or pivoted ball-trap adapted to be secured upon the rail of a billiard-table, and composed of a rim and an elastic or yielding web within said rim, and a catch for bolding the trap set, substantially as specified.

3. A swinging or pivoted ball-trap adapted to be secured upon the rail of a billiard-table, and a catch for holding it set, adapted to be released by the impact of the balls, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of a swinging or pivoted ball-trap, a base-plate therefor, adapted to be secured to the rail of a billiard-table, a sliding tongue having a projecting head, against which the balls may strike, and a catch upon said tongue for holding the trap set, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the base-plate B, the trap O, pivoted thereto, the springs d, the tongue D, having a head, D, and' the catch fupon said tongue, substantially as specified.

6. The combination of a swinging or pivoted ball-trap, a base-plate therefor, adapted to be secured upon the rail of a billiard-table, a sliding tongue carrying a catch for holding the trap set and adapted to be moved inward by the impact of the balls, and a catch for holding said tongue against forward movement after the trap is released, substantially as specifled.

7. The combination of the base-plate B, the pivoted trap G, the tongue D, with its head D, the catchfupon said tongue, and the spring 71, with its projection or lug t'and shoulder k, substantially as specified.

FRANK SAUNDERS.

Witnesses:

S. A. JONAS, R. M. BRADFORD. 

